There was a day when I could study for classes, read a book, listen to music, carry on a conversation and watch TV…all at the same time. But as I steadily become longer in the tooth, I find it harder to concentrate on things creative when other stuff is going on in my life. I … More Back In the Saddle…I Think
I’m one of those guys who has more ideas than he has time to exploit those ideas. Retirement is coming one of these days, and my hope is that I will finally take the time to turn these kernels of stories into fully fledged novels. In the meantime, I came across the idea of writing … More One Mind, Many Options
Writing is a mind game. As I have mentioned before, writing is about 80 percent psychological. After 40 years of writing, I have a semblance of mastery over grammar, vocabulary and use of words. What challenges me the most is seeing the story, and putting it in a logical structure. That’s not quite so bad … More Better Than Sex
Yesterday I wrote about getting started on your next book, how intimidating it can be and how important it is to just start, regardless of quality. And then I followed my own advice, and started my new book. Now I have the prologue, but don’t know where to go from there. Well, two things have … More I’ve Started. Now What?
I was just cleaning out my email inbox, and I came across a video that my wife Shelly sent me for safekeeping. It was of our grandson, Gavin, when he was probably less than a year old. He’s in one of those seats that has the wheels so that he can push himself across the … More Watch That First Step
I was listening to National Public Radio on the way to work this morning, and caught the tail end of a feature on the Gettysburg Address. Apparently, today is the 150th anniversary of its reading. There’s a lot of mythology that has built up around it, one of them being that Abraham Lincoln wrote it … More Less Is More. Small Is Big.
It’s been a hectic couple of weeks, and my dreams for National Novel Writing Month have pretty much been a shipwreck, but I was able to accomplish one pretty good thing during that time. Last night, I successfully launched my 16th book title. The Last Supper is a collection of short stories that I will … More Announcing…(drum roll) Book Number 16
People read books for a lot of different reasons. My wife very rarely will read a work of fiction. On the other hand, her side of our library is filled with self-help books. That’s her thing. I, on the other hand, read fiction–a lot of it. I also like to read historical fiction and non-fiction. … More The Extraordinary and the Commonplace
Well, I haven’t been posting later, and a lot of the reason for that is that I am embarrassed. National Novel Writing Month has started, but I haven’t. I signed up, mind you, but that’s as far as I have gotten. In the signing up part, they asked for a synopsis of my story. In … More Flummoxed
I got the November issue of Wired magazine in my office last week, and was pleased to see that it included an interview with Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Game and many other great science fiction stories and books. I consider Ender’s Game one of the top ten science fiction stories of all time. … More It’s Not Magic, Just Hard Work
